1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a centralized monitoring apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Preservation equipment is known that includes a temperature variable device that cools or heats the inside of a storage such that the temperature within the storage reaches a set temperature for preserving a preservation object. To detect failure, etc., of the temperature variable device of the preservation equipment, a centralized monitoring apparatus is disclosed that monitors the temperature within the storage detected by a temperature sensor to determine presence of failure, etc., by comparing the detected temperature with a set temperature (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 6-088666).
If the preservation equipment is, for example, a cooling storage, a refrigerating circuit is included as the temperature variable device to cool the inside of the storage to a set temperature, and in the case of, for example, a culture apparatus, a heater is included as the temperature variable device to heat the inside of a culture chamber to a set temperature.
When a door of a storage is opened for taking out and putting in a preservation object, since a load is generated in accordance with a temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the storage and the load has an effect in the direction bringing the temperature within the storage closer to the temperature outside the storage, the set temperature within the storage is set on the basis that such a load is generated at a predetermined frequency, for example.
Since disturbance such as opening and closing of the door of the storage have different frequency distributions in a day, for example, depending on a usage pattern of the preservation equipment, it is desirable for the electric power saving of the temperature variable device that the set temperature within the storage is increased and decreased within a range not affecting the preservation of the preservation object, for example. However, since the set temperature is fixed in the above preservation equipment on the basis of certain disturbance, it is problematic that electric power is wastefully consumed by the temperature variable device operating at the fixed set temperature at the timing when the effect of disturbance is not so great, for example.
On the other hand, since the main purpose of the above centralized monitoring apparatus is detection and notification of failure, etc., the maintenance of the set temperature within the storage is individually be performed by the preservation equipment and the centralized monitoring apparatus is not involved with such control, absent failure. Therefore, the above power consumption problem remains unsolved.